Creator

Purpose(s)

Location(s)

Final fate

Journal 3 is a cryptic journal, part of a series also containing Journal 2 and Journal 1, that contains information about the supernatural elements of Gravity Falls, mainly creatures like the gnomes. For many years, its author remained unknown by most. It appears in the show Gravity Falls.

Contents

Background

The strange machine in the metal tree.

Prior to Dipper's and Mabel's arrival in Gravity Falls, the journal's author, Ford Pines, had been studying the mysteries of the town and recording his data in the book. Unlike the previous journals, Journal 3 was used mainly to record information on all the creatures and paranormal entities in the town. After a encounter with Bill Cipher, Ford succumbed to paranoia and hid the journals away to prevent anyone from obtaining the books and activating the Universe Portal, which could bring Bill to Gravity Falls. He hid Journal 3 in Gravity Falls Forest, specifically inside a metal tree contraption.

Physical description

Journal 3 has the main color of burgundy and has various rips and tears on the cover due to age. Like the other journals, it has two gold lines on its spine, but it is the only book to have all four of its corners in gold. In the middle of the book there is a gold hand with six fingers and on the palm is the number 3. Just inside the front cover, the book has a monocle attached to it via a cord, meant to help Ford read after damaging his eye at one point.

Role in the series

Dipper uncovers the compartment containing 3.

Journal 3 debuts in the first episode "Tourist Trapped." When Dipper goes into the woods to hang signs leading to the Mystery Shack, he comes across a metallic tree containing a strange machine. After playing around with the switches, he opens a hidden compartment in the ground and comes across the journal for the first time. Dipper flips through the pages for a brief while before Mabel greets him, and, after she inquires as to what he is reading, the two return to the Shack, where Dipper tells his sister about the journal. Later, Dipper consults the journal for clues about Mabel's new boyfriend, "Norman," whom he comes to suspect is a zombie. He tells Mabel about his suspicions, showing her the entry that convinced him in the process, though she does not believe him. Dipper checks the gnome page for possible weaknesses as he and Mabel battle the gnomes, and writes about his experiences on a blank page at the end of the episode.

The journal continues to Dipper in later adventures. In "Irrational Treasure", the twins read about the town law stating it is legal to marry woodpeckers. In that same episode, after Pacifica Northwest teases Mabel, the two read about and decide to investigate the possibility of Nathaniel Northwest, alleged town founder and great-great grandfather of Pacifica, being a fraud, so they can put the popular girl in her place. Dipper reads about height altering crystals in "Little Dipper," wishing to use them to make himself taller, and checks on its position in his vest pocket as 'Lil Gideon interrogates him about how he came upon the crystals. In "Boss Mabel," Dipper uses the journal to help him catch a Gremloblin. In "Bottomless Pit!", Mabel, who reads it for the first time in the series, reads the journal about the truth teeth.

In "Dreamscaperers/Gideon Rises", the journal is briefly taken by Gideon who believed the journal was Journal 1. After finding out the journals were actually a trio, Gideon goes after the Pines twins to find out where Journal 1 is, but is defeated and arrested following his exposure to the town as a fraud. Dipper reclaims Journal 3 from him and decides to reveal to Stan the journal, although Stan pretends to dismiss his claims and swindles the journal from Dipper. At the end of the episode, Stan brings the three journals together and finds the algorithm within them to finally reactivate the Universe Portal.

In "Scary-oke", Stan returns the journal to Dipper after photocopying its pages. Dipper later uses the journal to convince Agent Powers and Agent Trigger that the paranormal activity in Gravity Falls is real, but accidentally summons a horde of Undead. It is here that Dipper discovers hidden notes within the journal that can be seen under ultraviolet light.

With the new information, Dipper uses the journal to uncover the location of the Bunker in "Into the Bunker." There, the group the discovers a Shape Shifter who tricks Dipper into giving it the journal, gaining many new forms, but Dipper gets the journal back as the group traps the Shape Shifter.

In "Sock Opera," Mabel uses the Journal as a prop for her sock puppet show. Bill attempts to destroy the journal when he possesses Dipper's body, but is stopped by Mabel. In "Society of the Blind Eye," Dipper shows Old Man McGucket some of the Journal's pages, which leads to them discovering the Blind Eye Society. While Old Man McGucket reveals that he was not the author, he does confirm that he worked with the author. In "Northwest Mansion Mystery," Dipper uses it as a guide on the type of ghost that was haunting Morthwest Manor. Unfortunately, the only information it could give on the category 10 Ghost of Northwest Manor was "pray for mercy."

While reading Journal 3, Dipper uncovers the connection between the journals and the Universe Portal in "Not What He Seems" and tries to unsuccessfully stop Stan from activating the Universe Portal. However, the activated portal does bring Ford back from the alternate dimension he was trapped in. Once Ford settles back into the Mystery Shack, Journal 3 returns to his possession.

In "Weirdmageddon Part 1", Bill Cipher destroys the three journals, but it was later revealed that, following Bill's banishment, Dipper found them unharmed and eventually returned them to Ford. The family decides to throw the Journals into the Bottomless Pit to rid themselves of the trouble caused by them.[1]

Pages and Text

Page 1 and 2

The introductory page of Journal 3.

“June 18It's hard to believe it's been six years since I began researching the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon. In all my travels, never have I observed so many curious things! Gravity Falls is indeed a geographical oddity.”

“___ page is a farce. Uhhh, to the untrained beginner's eye it may seem to contain relevant information. I can assure you it's not the case. For you see, this is all gibberish. Pure nonsense, if you wish. In fact, none of my sample writing is of any significance. I namely dot my I's _____ to, ___ has alone taken a bind next to pure theater. It is indeed a long _____ stunts. Please enjoy. Please enjoy the irrelevant and incomprehensible ___ seen.”

Gnomes

In "Gideon Rises", it's shown that Dipper had filled the weakness part with "Leaf blowers" and scratched out the question mark at the end.

Page 2 (Wheel page)

Wheel page.

“Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed, I'm being watched. I must hide this book before He finds it. Remember, in Gravity Falls there is no one you can trust. Trust no one!

____ ____ wheel found in the back of a ____ book at the Gravity Falls library shows a number of interesting symbols and equations. The center eye denotes ____ power. Note that several different ____ and continues upper(?). What does it all mean?”

―Tourist Trapped

The Undead

The Undead.

“Known for their pale skin and bad attitudes, these creatures are often mistaken for teenagers. Beware Gravity Falls' nefarious zombies.”

―Tourist Trapped

Ghosts

Ghosts.

“Always have a reason of some kind. Photographic Proof! Ectoplasm Sample (Gravity Falls town hall)”

Unknown Page

Unknown Page

The conspiracy around Nathaniel Northwest

“In my investigations I have recently made a discovery, Nathaniel Northwest was not be the founder of Gravity Falls. And his entire family legacy is a fraud! I believe the proof of this secret is buried somewhere in the enclosed document. If only I could crack the code...”

―Irrational Treasure

Height Alteration

Height Alteration

“Legends telling of miniature buffalo and giant squirrels have lead me to believe that there are height altering properties buried deep within the forest...”

Dipper's Pages

Dipper's page.

The Left page has a few words cut off and a drawing of a Mystery Shack bumper sticker. The cut off words can be viewed in the filler pages between Gnomes and The Undead pages when Dipper is showing Mabel "proof" that her new boyfriend is a zombie; these missing words are located on the page right before The Undead page:

“Finally back safe and sound from one of the weirdest days at Gravity Falls. This journal told me there was no one in Gravity Falls I could trust, but when you battle a hundred gnomes side-by-side with someone, you realize that they've probably always got your back.”

Once decoded, it reads "THE PORTAL WHEN COMPLETED WILL OPEN A GATEWAY TO INFINITE NEW WORLDS AND HERALD A NEW ERA IN MANKIND’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE. PLUS, IT WILL PROBABLY GET GIRLS TO START TALKING TO ME FINALLY."

Gremloblin

The Gremgoblin.

If you look into his eyes you can see your worst nightmares.

“fungi detail.

___ ___ razor sharp teeth.

The gremloblin can be found deep in the ____ ______ of Gravity Falls. Beware of the Gremloblin(?)

Gremloblin claws are extremely dangerous due to a neurotoxin ___ ____ into humans. Extreme strength and sheer mass gives the gremloblin an extra advantage in the wild. They must ___ ___ all ___.

Squash with a Human Face and Emotions

While looking for ideas to defeat Gideon, Dipper calls this page "Butternut squash with a human face and emotions" instead of just "squash".

The code in the top right corner of its page reads '. Once decoded, it reads "DON'T EAT HIM."

Barf Fairy

While looking for ideas to defeat Gideon in Journal 3, Dipper mentions a page describing a "barf fairy".

Bill Cipher

Bill Cipher.

Left page:

These is a symbol cipher cryptogram on the same place of the page where Bill's name is written: (LIAR) (MONSTER)Yes (SNAPPY) (DRESSER)

“Bill has proven himself to be one of the friendliest and most trustworthy individuals that I've ever encountered in my life. What a guy! I honestly [cut off] trust him more. Not evil [cut off] a way, Bill is a true gentleman.”

Secret of the Journals

3(left), 2(right), 1(center)

In order to properly complete the device, one must possess all three journals. Apparently, the author believed if constructed, the result could be catastrophic, so he made sure the journals were well hidden safe distance from each other, also placing a warning to whom ever finds the journal: "TRUST NO ONE!"

But Dipper allowed Stan to learn of his possession of the journal, who then took it to activate a device using the combined algorithm of all three books.

Trivia

That's different...

Until "Gideon Rises", only journals 3 (in Dipper's possession) and 2 (in Gideon's possession) had been seen, implying but never outright confirming the existence of 1. In "Gideon Rises", Journal 1 was revealed to be owned by Stan.

In an early promo that aired on Disney Channel, the gnome page had a creepier but more accurate drawing of a gnome.

Journal 3 shows signs of neglect that show of its storage in a tree. When it was first seen, it was layered with dust, and Journal 2 has small tears on the cover, while Journal 1 is in the worst state, as it has larger tears.

In the gnomes page of the book in "Gideon Rises", it is shown that the weakness line was filled by Dipper after "Tourist Trapped" in blue ink, being "leaf blowers"."

The maze page in "Little Dipper" and "Gideon Rises" has different symbols in it. This was done to hide the code until it was ready to be revealed.